food from the lab

lmsaa

Easy read (for lay people) on food from the lab, including the Impossible Burger, if anyone is interested.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/30/lab-grown-meat-how-a-bunch-of-geeks-scared-the-meat-industry

MichelleSilverleaf

It's a good idea that might though bomb in light of the fact that they're going to start expensive and food prices already going up and continue to do so. Plus I chuckle whenever the topic of 'factory farms' comes up, if any truly exist it's fewer than most think. Majority of farms are still family owned even if they're huge. I doubt the dairy and meat industry is as rattled as the article claims. Do some digging and farming has actually managed to cut down their impact, and I find it hard to believe farming has a bigger impact than some of the other big polluters out there. China doesn't have smog warnings because of farming. That being said it's always going to come down to cost; if meat from farmers is cheaper than a 'clean' alternative, it's going to be what wins out. I would hate to see that, there can be room for both but they really are going to have to figure out a way to make it priced competitively if they actually want to compete with the meat and dairy industry. Because the reality is a lot of people will and have to opt for the cheapest option.

janejellyroll

MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »

It's a good idea that might though bomb in light of the fact that they're going to start expensive and food prices already going up and continue to do so. Plus I chuckle whenever the topic of 'factory farms' comes up, if any truly exist it's fewer than most think. Majority of farms are still family owned even if they're huge. I doubt the dairy and meat industry is as rattled as the article claims. Do some digging and farming has actually managed to cut down their impact, and I find it hard to believe farming has a bigger impact than some of the other big polluters out there. China doesn't have smog warnings because of farming. That being said it's always going to come down to cost; if meat from farmers is cheaper than a 'clean' alternative, it's going to be what wins out. I would hate to see that, there can be room for both but they really are going to have to figure out a way to make it priced competitively if they actually want to compete with the meat and dairy industry. Because the reality is a lot of people will and have to opt for the cheapest option.

If an organization is large and practicing the type of agriculture that is associated with factory farming, I wouldn't consider family ownership to cancel that out.

In the south, for example, it's really common to see Tyson and other chicken farmers contract out the raising of chickens to smaller operators (including families), but they still potentially involve the practices that trouble critics of industrial chicken operations (treatment of the birds, environmental impacts, etc).

A critic of certain farming practices or how animals are treated in a certain system is going to object whether it is a publicly owned company, a privately held company, or even an operation staffed completely by family members.